There could be some change coming to the Steelers' coaching staff in 2023. And it goes beyond the decision to whether to keep or part ways with Matt Canada.
During his end-of-season press conference Monday at the UMPC Rooney Sports Complex, Mike Tomlin said that he had received an interview request for senior defensive assistant/linebackers coach Brian Flores for a coordinator job. Tomlin declined to comment which team made the request, but the Browns fired their defensive coordinator, Joe Woods, Monday.
ESPN's Adam Schefter later confirmed that it was the Browns who are interested in Flores.
It seemed possible, if not probable, that Flores would again become a candidate for a coordinator or head coach position after spending three years as head coach of the Dolphins from 2019-21. He was perhaps a bit overqualified for the assistant coach position with the Steelers, but teams were hesitant to hire last offseason due to his lawsuit against the league.
His stop in Pittsburgh was more than just a holding position, though, and his linebackers were appreciative of the impact he had on the core.
"Coach Flores is a head coach as our inside linebacker coach," Robert Spillane said Monday during the locker clean out. "He's done a great job every day. I love coming to work with him. I hope he's here next year. I hope I get to continue my relationship with him. He's a mentor to me and someone I'll always look up to and have respect for."
"He's such a great coach," Alex Highsmith said. "Football-minded. He wants what's best for each one of these guys. He's definitely added so much value to our defense."
While Flores' future is up in the air, so is Canada's for a different reason. The question is will he be retained for the final year of his contract or let go?
Canada was the subject of criticism throughout his second year as offensive coordinator, especially in the first half of the year when the Steelers' stumbled out of the gate to a 2-6 record. The offense did improve in the second-half of the season, but the offense still finished 23rd in yards per game (322.8) and 26th in points per game (18.1).
While the offensive coordinator has become a polarizing figure to the fan base, Tomlin did not give any insight into Canada's future.
“I am not going to delve into the dynamics of my decision-making,” Tomlin said. “It doesn’t serve me or us in any way to peel back that curtain.”
“I thought he got better, just like our team got better,” Tomlin added later. “I am not going to speculate about him -- or anyone -- as I stand here today."
Tomlin acknowledged he would have to take a look at the year as a whole and the later part of the season when doing year-end evaluations. Canada got some votes of confidence Monday for the latter.
"He started just realizing what we're good at," Kevin Dotson said. "Think we started playing towards our strengths [later in the year]."
Dotson was asked if he could summarize Canada's vision for the offense. "Just that we’re not going to lose games to bonehead mistakes most of the time," he responded. "If we lose, it’s because they just beat us. That you couldn’t stop bad plays, but it can’t be us."
That might be best seen with Kenny Pickett, who grew as the season progressed and drastically cut down on his turnovers in the second-half of the season. Pickett spoke after the Steelers' win Sunday that he felt he was taking "ownership" of the offense, being able to use more of the playbook and having a larger input on the planning.
"We're just getting to know each other," Pickett said Sunday. "I get to know how he calls games. He gets to know what I like, constant communication. The more I was playing, the more input I was able to have and what I like."
There will be plenty of speculation about Canada's job until the decision about his future is made. At one time there had also been speculation that Tomlin himself could be one of those changes, but that won't happen if he has any say of it.
In the final question of his half hour press conference, he was asked if he still had the same motivation and drive going into the offseason as he did down the stretch to come back from a 2-6 start to finish 9-8.
“More so," Tomlin responded. "Increasingly so.”
